My Family Story

By: Taaran Kaur

My Grandmother (bottom right, two braids) with her friends and sisters

My grandmother's family was originally from the part of Punjab that is now part of modern-day Pakistan. After the partition, her family had to leave their farms and start thier lives over in a new place. Her father worked as a Timber merchant, but had to retire early at 45 because he had a heart condition. In order to support the family of 14 (two parents and 12 siblings), her older brother joined the army as a physician and stayed there until all of his siblings had received their education.

After they all completed their schooling, he came to the United States for work as a doctor, where he had to repeat all of his medical training. However, he loved the lifestyle and called all of his siblings to come their to raise their families. By this time, my Grandmother had graduated with a degree in botany (which explains why her living room window is a veritable rainforest) and had married my grandfather, who was an engineer. They came to the United States where my grandfather worked as an engineer (he has worked in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and civil engineering over the years). My grandmother worked in her brother's office. Then my dad was born.

My grandmother is a very religious woman and it was important to her that her children followed the Sikh religion as well. My dad and his younger sister took kirtan lessons, where they learned how to play instruments and sing hymns. Both of then also went to Khalsa School (like Sunday School) as well where they learned to read Punjabi, learned about Sikh history, and memorized the daily prayers. Later, my parents sent my siblings and I to khalsa school as well.

Overall, religion has been an important part of my family story. My grandmother always talks about how she wants us to continue being connected to our religion and my parents encourage us to follow the Sikh ideals. While my family has experienced discrimination over the years, it brought us closer to our religion. Our family story is one of love, support, and faith.